jazeera.com. >> hello, i'm stephanie sy, it is wednesday, august 21st, and these are some of the stories we're following this hour. firefighters are being pushed to the limit. fires are burning across the west, the cost of battling the flames has topped $1 billion. and its sentencing day for bradley manning, he could spend decades in prison for stealing classified documents. the leak at japan's fukushima plant is worse than originally described. it's raising it's warning about the severity of toxic water

leaking from that plant. and legalized pot in washington is turning into a very big business. how everyone from pot growers and sellers to the state government are reaping the rewards. >> fire officials in idaho say they have turned the dyed against the wildfire near sun valley. they cleared the way for hundreds of people in that area to return home meanwhile, across the western u.s. thousands of firefighters are working to bring 50 other wildfires under control. at this point the fires have been contained in colorado bringing the total number of states involved to ten. we have more with what they're up against. >> it's dawn, and just

37 degrees. some 240 men and women are preparing for another day on the fire line. grabbing a quick coffee and breakfast before the morning briefing. cole is the person in charge here. he's the branch director of the fire, the number one firefighting priority in the country. his job description, employ the troops, keep them safe and try to beat the fire. >> to be able to come out ahead of this. it's weakened, and we have a chance to go after it. >> so far the beaver creek fire has fought back hard. cole has fire in his blood. he has been fighting it for 37 years, 17 of them as a hot shot. he lives for being on the front lines, savings lives, protecting property. >> so this is just structure protection. >> this is. >> and all along this road, this is what your team is doing. >> this is one structure that is taking resources to work around it and protect it, and we've got

100 structures that we've got to do. you're looking at quite a few resources just to protect the structures. less resources up on the mountain fighting the fire. >> for people who get dirty, sweat, there is a bond forged by fire. >> it is not hard to get them motivated. it's adrenaline. they're running on adrenaline when they come out. it gets a little harder to keep them motivated when you get towards the end of iter. >> for cole it's about respect for fire and for his fellow firefighters. >> it's a bond that last as lifetime. we'll go to each other's weddings, watch each other's kids being born, things like that. just lifelong friendships that you just don't forget. it's a bond you can't--it's a family. it's a real family. >> after beaver creek the next fire will call, and he's almost certain to call. cole told me that he came out of

retirement to fight this fire. he said for him and everybody else here it's not about the money, it's about the work and it's about the camaraderie. it's about knowing that the end of the day that you had done something truly important. al jazeera, haley, idaho. >> this morning the army private at the center of the wikileaks scandal will learn his fate. a military judge will sentence bradley manning the former intelligence analyst who stole 700,000 classified government documents. he could face up to 90 years in prison. last year manning was convicted of a variety of charges including espionage, theft and computer fraud. sentencing is underway for staff sergeant robert bales. he pleaded guilty to murdering afghan civilians last year, most of them women and children. on tuesday prosecutors went through the crimes offering details of how he broke into homes chasing his victims.

seven afghan witnesses testified. the youngest witness was 12 years old. after the violent and bloody change of government in egypt the u.s. is rethinking its relationship with a powerful mideast ally. president obama met with his advisers about possibly cutting the $1.5 billion in annual ai ad to egypt. >> under mounting pressure to halt payment foss egypt, today a flat denial from the white house that aid has already been cut off. >> this is not faucet in which you turn over the spigot. the department of defense announced earlier today that the answer is yes. >> hanging in the balance $1.3 billion annually in

military aid. why not stop the flow? one official said it's complicated. the aid convers covers 80% of te egyptian military procurement and egypt will buy 20 f-16s so the u.s. halted transfer of four of the planes this year. officers routinely train in the usa. including al sisi. there are larger regional security issues where government needs operation. security along the suez canal where warships routinely transit and the border and gaza strip. the administration has few good options. and each day they answer the fuel to call to cut off aid.

>> that is not in line with the standards we expect governments to uphold in terms of human rights. >> a decision to cut off aid would carry wide repercussions. al jazeera washington. >> four state department officials placed on leave after the cake i attack in bengahzi, . u.s. diplomat i can mission in bengahzi was attacked by a heavily guard group. 14 people died including the u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens. students will return to class this morning one day after a gunman with an assault weapon open fired at their georgia school. the school indicator was evacuated after a man covering

ak 478 walked in, took one employee captive and fired shots at officers. the suspect eventually surrendered to police who identified him as michael brandon hill. investigators say the 20-year-old has no ties to the school. in mexico teachers have taken to the streets to protest against plans to grade them on their performance. mexico's president said the reforms are necessary so his country can compete with the rest of the world. we have this report. >> this is how teachers try to get their voices heard in mexico. they occupy the main plaza and try to pressure leaders with people power. thousands are now camped out here. their aim, to block the implementation of state run schools in part evaluating teachers. these teachers are hoping that their leaders will hold high-level meetings with congress to convince them to change or derail the education

reform. when request for meeting was rejected this is how some teachers reacted. 20 police injured, three of them hospitalized. teachers have been protesting the reform for months. under the new law for the first time an independent commission can hire and fire teachers and grade their performance. that power had until now held by the main teachers' union. but these teachers say the reform has just one goal. >> the government wants to privatize education and let rich business take it over. >> we know that in the long run this won't benefit teachers at all. right now the government is trying to disguise their plans and in five or six years they'll enact true reform whic. >> on monday 2 million students meant to start the new year couldn't as a result of teachers

striker and protesting against the reform. the strike continues. the reform is a signature piece of the agenda. they say it is necessary to modernize schools and make mexico more competitive. of the 34 countries, mexico ranks last. but teachers say poor students should not be judged against those with privileged backgrounds. time is running out, though, for teachers to block the law that is set by congress in the coming days. al jazeera mexico city. >> a grave warning. japan dramatically raises alert about radioactive water leaking from the fukushima nuclear pla plant. plus floods fears in the philippines, forcing thousands from their homes and businesses. >> we have strong winds and heat and down to the southeast the

rain is finally letting up. i'll bring all the details on that in just a few moments.

mission. >> there's more to america, more stories, more voices, more points of view. now there's are news channel with more of what americans want to know. >> i'm ali velshi and this is "real money." this is "america tonight." sglovrjs our -- >> our news coverage reveal more

of america's stories. hi, my name is jonathan betz, and i'm from dallas, texas, and i'm an anchor for al jazeera america. i started in a small television station in rural arkansas. it's a part of the country that often gets overlooked. but there are a lot of fascinating people there, a lot of fascinating stories there. i like that al jazeera will pay attention to those kinds of places. what drew me to journalism is i like the idea that we are documenting history. al jazeera documents it like none other. and to be a journalist, and to be part of a team like that? that's an incredible blessing. [♪ music ] >> major developments out of japan regarding the water leak out of the fukushima water plant. the warning has been raised from the level one to a level three.

the level three category means the exposure is ten times the amount for workers. they have not issued a warning of this time since the reactor meltdowns from the su tsunami of 2011. does this leak pose an immediate threat to anyone? >> well, certainly the nuclear regulational authority thinks it does. they describe this as a deepening crisis, and as you mentioned it raises the warning from a level one anomaly put in place yesterday following the discovery of 300 tons of radioactive water that leaked from one of the tanks. they raised that to a level three. let me read to you from a document that it posted on its

website. it said judging from the amount an density of radiation in the water that leaked, the level three assessment is appropriate. that means that there is a serious situation developing further at the fukushima plant. >> why is this leak going on, and why are officials only now announcing the increase risk level? >> well, it was only discovered yesterday by workers there. they're trying to find out to this day where that leak is coming from. they suspected it's a faulty seam on one of the tankers, it could be coming from one of the tap from one of the guss from this tank. they don't know how long the leak has been going on and it brings concerns if this leak has been leaking into the pacific. >> thank you. in china heavy rains from a typhoon have left more than 200 people dead. new pictures show roads and

urban areas that look more like rivers. the rain also caused several mudslides in southern china washing away homes and cars. 3,000 military personnel have been deployed to help with rescue effort. and in the philippines residents are cleaning up after two days of continuous flooding there. a monsoon left 80% of the capitol, manila, and nearly provinces underwater. hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes and businesses. torrential rains were left from a monsoon intensified by a tropical storm. we're there with more. >> here in the province they are under what is known as a state of calamity because much of the province is underwater. they are suffering here from these torrential rains. the residents tell us at the moment that the water level is fairly low. it fluctuates and over the past

few days it has been up to waste height and higher. when that happens, the homes become inundated and people have to move to their upstairs roofs. if you don't have an upstairs then there are evacuation centers where you can sit out the storm. the problems a that the philippines have been facing is they've been caught between two whether systems. up to the another, typhoon rainstorms colliding with the monsoons that the philippines gets this time of year. with the two systems they have been getting double rains. they've had a staggering one meter rainfall, twice the monthly average for the whole of august. the forecasters are predicting that maybe by the end of this week as things start to ease, if the rains do ease that can't come soon enough, at least for

the people here. [♪ music ] >> meteorologist: well, we are looking at a lot of fire activity towards the northwest as well as some very strong winds across the region. we're seeing rain showers pushing up across parts of idaho but we don't think we'll be seeing much in terms of relief in that region. up here towards the northeast it is looking quite nice. no clouds in the area, especially all the way back to the great lakes. we're seeing in new york fairly nice conditions. maybe a few more thunderstorms and clouds coming midweek. high temperatures about 90 degrees. as we go towards the rest the weekend, look at sunday expect it to go down to 78 degrees as a high. here across the southeast it has been the rain that has been the big problem. in some locations they've seen a year's worth of rain already just by august 15th. so the rain showers are still in the region. we're going to be seeing them

start to dissipate a little bit. but as you can see in the forecast its still going to be a problem for some of those areas. up towards north carolina, kentucky, tennessee, and south carolina, and all the way back here towards parts of new orleans. we'll be watching this very carefully. for atlanta, thunderstorms every single day. high temperatures on friday, but as we go towards sunday a front is coming through, and that will make the thunderstorms stop and the rain stop as well. that will bring your temperatures down to 82 degrees. quite a nice change for your weekend. well, the showers are going to be here across the gulf coast states here and texas. you can see from galveston towards corpus christi and houston. the showers should stay along the toast. san antonio and dallas, you're not looking bad for your forecast, but we'll see the temperatures in dallas rise again, how about 99 degrees on thursday and not getting a break at all for the next five days. >> well, celebrating perfection.

president obama honors gridiron great more than four decades after the winningest season in football's history. [♪ music ]

>> it was damage by an earthquake in 1989, now the costly reopening of the san francisco oakland bay bridge just weeks ago. they have spent $6.3 billion over the estimate of $1 billion. when it reopens it will run over a two-mile stretch and at its

highest point will stand 525 feet above the water. 270,000 vehicles are expected to truck that bridge every day. the project has had its share of challenges. >> the view from the east at sundown as we approach san francisco, and the beautiful bay bridge after years of waiting, residents will start driving down the new span which has become one of the most expensive infrastructure projects in the country. the journey to arrive at this moment has hardly been smooth. structural safety has challenged engineers. two major fault lines cut through this area. >> in the 1989 earthquake, the one that broke the bridge remains strong in many mind. seismologists believe the city is due for another quake. this bridge has been built to with stand the largest earthquake expected. part of that effort includes a

suspension section that has been engineered to last a century. getting an infrastructure project of this size off the ground takes years and lots of political will. there have been mayoral and state-level battles with controversy along the way over structural soundness and safety. and then there is the cost. so the builders went to where americans usually get a discoundiscount--china. made in china, assembled in the united states. at the time we spoke to steve heneger, head of the toll authority. he told us that the structure was so solid that if there was an earthquake he would want to be on the bridge. i asked him if he felt the same

way. >> of course i do. that bridge is built like a brick house. it will do just fine. >> reporter: in the end it wasn't steel from china that caused problem. steel bolts from ohio broke during testing. after three independent investigations and ongoing repairs, experts gave the go ahead for the bridge's opening. but wary san franciscoens still worry. >> about the broken posts and stuff like that, i'm not so sure. >> you just never know these days. people rush through to get these dong. >> reporter: the transportation officials say the signs are solid, the repairs more than sufficient. >> i think they should be reassured. there have been a lot of news stories about the new span, but non-of them have produced any credible evidence that it's less safe than the old bridge. in fact, it's orders in magnitude safer.

it's built to modern seismic standards. >> reporter: for more than 20 years drivers have crossed this bridge knowing that if another earthquake struck it could crumble. for 20 years every time someone made this commute they knew they might be taking a risk. finally the new san francisco bay bridge is here, for better or worse, but certainly iconic. al jazeera, san francisco. >> recreational marijuana use is now legal in washington state, and that could mean big bucks, not only for the people who will grow and sell the pot or the state, which is going to tax it. we take a closer look at the booming business. >> reporter: somewhere in they look at this bud. his marijuana roots do run deep. >> midwestern born, good moral

center, i've been a career pot dealer my entire life. >> reporter: gilmore said for years he has been giving away part of his pot to people who need it as medicine. that will change with the legal landscape and legal business opportunity it now offers. >> i dreamt it just like every kid dreams of playing in the world series, i was a young adult playing when it would be recreational. >> reporter: what he plans now is a modest growing operation, a $250,000 expansion of his current farm. >> yep. >> reporter: mass perfection, not mass production, he says, is the goal. keep it small. keep it local, and keep the big operators in check. >> people who want to open up 40 shops and control the market and be the walmart of marijuana, you know, smaller is better. >> reporter: but the state of washington is expecting a big payoff. pot will be taxed here as it's

grown, packaged and sold. revenue estimates vary, but the state is expecting $2 million plus over the first five years. under federal law this is one of the biggest ill legal drug operations in the country. under state law it's just a new voter-approved regulatory structure run by the liquor control board. >> it's the number one cash crop in the nation. >> reporter: rick runs the agencies that is writing the rules. he's well aware that once used to be criminal elements will now be a big part of washington's brave new marijuana world. >> i think there will be a lot of people who will want to be in the marketplace and do it legally, and not have the burden and the concern of doing something illegal. >> get busy or get out of the way we're coming. >> reporter: and coming soon. if all this works as plan, to a pot store just down the street.

al jazeera, thurston county, washington. >> it took them more than 40 years, but the only team in nfl history to go a whole season undefeated finally made it to the white house. on tuesday president obama celebrated perfection with the 1972 miami dolphins. mr. obama praised the dolphins but then went on to joke about another football team that was almost perfect, his favorite team, the chicago bears. >> the bears lost once in their nearly perfect season, it happened to be the dolphins. [laughter] >> another honor five members of that team are also members of the nfl hall of fame. that will do it for this edition of al jazeera news. i'm stephanie sy. we're back at 4:00 eastern with another news update. you can get your news throughout the day at www.americ www.america.al jazeera.com. thanks for watching.